MIAMI , Florida -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Criminal charges were filed against the co-owner of a Florida clinic where a teenager claims she sought an abortion , but instead gave birth to a baby that the woman allegedly threw in the trash .

Belkis Gonzalez has a prior conviction of unlicensed practice of medicine for incidents in 2004 .

Belkis Gonzalez , 43 , was co-owner of the now-defunct A Gyn Diagnostic Center in Hialeah , Florida .

She faces a second-degree felony count of unlicensed practice of a health care profession resulting in serious bodily injury and a third-degree felony count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence , authorities said Tuesday .

She was arrested and taken into custody , prosecutors said . If convicted , she faces a minimum sentence of a year in jail .

Authorities were unable to file more serious charges against Gonzalez because they could not prove the baby 's exact cause of death . Nor could they prove that her actions brought about the death , according to Ed Griffith , a spokesman for the state attorney 's office in Miami .

The baby 's mother , Sycloria Williams , sued the clinic , its staffers and Pierre Jean-Jacques Renelique , its doctor , last month . The Florida Medical Board also revoked Renelique 's license last month .

Although Renelique was not present when the baby was born , the medical board upheld Department of Health allegations that he falsified medical records , inappropriately delegated tasks to unlicensed personnel and committed malpractice .

Williams claims she sought an abortion at the clinic on July 20 , 2006 , when she believed herself to be about 23 weeks pregnant . She was 18 at the time .

She was told to wait for Renelique to arrive and given medication . When she complained of feeling ill , she said clinic staffers told her to lie down in a patient room .

She waited for hours , Williams claims in her suit , and eventually `` felt a large pain '' and delivered a baby girl .

Williams `` observed the infant moving and making noises for approximately five minutes , '' according to an affidavit in support of Gonzalez 's arrest warrant .

Williams alleges that Gonzalez entered the room , used a pair of shears to cut the baby 's umbilical cord , then `` scooped up the baby and placed the live baby , placenta and afterbirth in a red plastic biohazard bag , which she sealed , and then threw bag and the baby in a trash can . ''

The doctor later arrived and gave Williams a shot to put her to sleep , she alleges in her suit .

In the affidavit , police said they found out about the incident when they received a tip the following day . They searched the clinic for the baby 's remains but were unable to find them .

Gonzalez gave police a statement , meanwhile , and `` asserted under oath '' that Williams ' termination was done by Dr. Renelique while she stood at his side , according to the affidavit .

She denied that the infant came out alive , police said , but statements from two other clinic employees contradicted her account .

Six days after the first search , police received another tip that the infant 's remains were placed back inside the clinic . They executed a search warrant and found the remains . They were linked to Williams through DNA testing , according to the affidavit .

Documents from the state Department of Health say the baby 's cause of death was determined to be `` extreme prematurity . ''

However , according to the police affidavit , the medical examiner could not definitively say that the baby had been born alive . A birth certificate was issued , because nothing in the autopsy findings disproved Williams ' claim the baby was alive and moving .

Experts told police the baby would not have suffocated in the bag because it would have had a limited ability to breathe on its own . And an expert reported there was no way to prove for sure that the baby filled its lungs with air because of its underdeveloped lungs , as well as its decomposed state when the remains were found .

Another expert certified in neonatal and perinatal medicine told police he estimated Williams ' fetus , based on data from her medical records , to have a gestational age of about 21 and a half weeks -- meaning it had not reached viability , the state where it could survive outside the womb .

`` This expert ... explained that the standard of care for a premature infant delivered at less than 23 weeks is not to attempt resuscitation , '' so even if the baby had been born at a hospital , no measures would have been undertaken to save it , according to the affidavit .

In December 2007 , Gonzalez was convicted of unlicensed practice of medicine for actions between August and December of 2004 , and is serving five years ' probation , according to the affidavit . However , because the 2006 incident preceded her probation term , she is not accused of violating her probation .

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Belkis Gonzalez faces felony counts stemming from abortion in Florida clinic

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Sycloria Williams claims Belkins cut cord and placed baby , placenta in trash

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Prosecutors say they could not prove that the baby was born alive

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Gonzalez told police she stood at doctor 's side for procedure , baby was not alive